Girl, 12, dies after asthma attack

Josephine Jackson had suffered severe asthma attacks in the past

The father of a schoolgirl has told how she died from an asthma attack just minutes after he had carried her into hospital.

Josephine Jackson, 12, from Blaenau Ffestiniog, died just 20 minutes after her father Ian, 33, had taken her by car to the town's Memorial Hospital.

Mr Jackson took her to the hospital on Sunday morning after Josephine, who has suffered from asthma since she was three, became ill.

"She was just getting out of the car when she fainted straight into my arms and 20 minutes later unfortunately they couldn't bring her around.

"Her death has devastated us and the whole community."

Josephine's mother Jane, 40, said: "We were so used to her pulling through but not this time.

She was an angel, a very popular girl Jane Jackson

"She had suffered for over nine years since she was three-years-old and I don't think anything could have been done.

"I think what happened was the asthma has weakened and weakened her until that was it."

The couple, who moved to north Wales from Warrington, Greater Manchester almost two years ago, paid tribute to their "special" daughter and the community for their support.

"She was an angel, a very popular girl," said Mrs Jackson.

"Although she suffered with the asthma, she never stopped smiling and there wasn't a person who had a bad word to say about her.

People in Blaenau Ffestiniog have been "fantastic with all their offers of help and support," she said.

Josephine's parents with her younger brother Nicholas

"They've always made us feel welcome and I don't think there is a nicer place in the world."

Josephine also leaves an older sister Christina, 14, and brothers Kenneth, seven, and Nicholas, who is two.

Dewi Lake, headmaster of Ysgol y Moelwyn, said staff and pupils were devastated by Josephine's death.

"She was a very special pupil who was very likeable and popular.

"Josephine was very keen to become part of the community and learned Welsh in a very short time and had an endearing attitude to the people around her."

Her funeral is to take place on Monday with a service at Blaenau Ffestiniog's St David's Church and at Bangor Cemetery.